The invention relates to synthetic liquid wax esters of the joboba oil type on the basis of long-chain alkenes and alkenic acids which are free of glycerin and/or glycerin derivatives.
Natural jojoba oil is obtained from the fruits of a number of desert plants from the family of the Buxaceae, which are native to California and Mexico among other places. Jojoba oil is not a fatty oil in the conventional sense, that is, not an ester of glycerin with fatty acids, but in its chemical structure it is a liquid wax composed of esters of monounsaturated straight-chain alcohols and acids with chain length maxima at 20 to 22 carbon atoms.
The cosmetics industry has a growing interest in liquid waxes of the jojoba type, which is met at the present time, however, by a very small offering of varying quality, for example with frequently unsatisfactory turbidity points, from material gathered from wild plants, since the small amount of plantation farming being done is not yet producing a yield.
The properties of jojoba oil are unusual and quite different from those of fatty oils; in spite of the unsaturated bond in the two ester components, the oil does not turn rancid; the degradation point is at about 300.degree. C.; the oil keeps without spoiling for many years; its compatibility when applied to the skin and internally consumed is very good, although the oil is indigestible.
Only sperm oil from the nasal cavities of the sperm whale, which contains approximately 30% of fatty acids of glycerin in addition to long-chain liquid waxes, has some properties of similar value, but at the present time it is no longer available in appreciable quantities. The synthesis of jojoba oil has not been possible at reasonable cost.
Accordingly, the problem existed of producing a substitute for natural jojoba oil from raw materials easily available in sufficient quantities, which would offer the attractiveness of the natural product.